Mike Ferguson - Website Design For Small Business

Apple Victimized By Its Own Success

What Happens When The Bar Is Raised...High Small Business Insights: Technical Originally posted in 2010 Like millions of others, I spent a portion of my day struggling to find a worthwhile feed/stream from the iPad debut. At one point I found myself on a website listening to audio being piped in via cell phone with the corresponding video relying on a video feed from ANOTHER website. And even then, the website with imagery was relegated to frequently updated still images from the event. It was pathetic. I was pathetic for watching it for as long as I did. But nevertheless, it was a textbook case of how well Apple manages its brand, the product, and their hype. Make no mistake about it–Steve Jobs remains rail thin from illness but he’s still in charge and still calling the shots. Like everyone else, I was lining up to drink the Apple ‘Kool-Aide’ The iPad looks like an amazing piece of hardware. [...]

By Mike Ferguson|Pop Culture, Technical|

AT&T UVERSE: A 2 Minute Review

Speed Matters: In Search Of High-Speed Internet Outside Of A Major Metro Small Business Insights: Techincal Originally posted in 2009 For literally years I looked forward to the UVERSE network upgrade that inched slowly-ever so slowly-toward my Little Rock suburb. I checked 'availability' about once a month (using an online tool) and even called in from time to time trying to glean even the most modest pearls of information. Have you ever seen an AT&T truck with the semi-rhetorical marketing slogan "Ask Me About UVERSE"? Well not once, but twice I did when coming across a technician in my neighborhood. Jump ahead about 3 years and finally, the day came. I made the appointment and within a week, I was enjoying an 18 mps download speed, fiber-optic television courtesy of UVERSE! We decided to go 'all cell' and didn't install the voice service. Finally, the curse of storm-induced DishTV outages was over and better yet, I now had BBC [...]

By Mike Ferguson|Ramblings, Technical|

Google Class Action Settlement: SPAM Or Conspiracy?

Was That Email Spam or Something Real? Did your spam folder surprise you by flagging a legal notice about a Google class action settlement? It happens—even when it’s from Google itself. One business owner saw notification via email, marked it safe, and still found it buried in G‑Mail’s spam filter. It was legit, part of a court filing, complete with a standard unsubscribe notice. Yet, somehow, even that got flagged. What Small‑Biz Owners Should Know Before dismissing such messages as conspiracy fodder, consider this: Sometimes, even serious notices can look spammy to filters. It’s more common than you think for real messages to get lost in the shuffle. If there’s any reason to think it might be legit, check the settlement’s official site or court documents. That’s far safer than clicking on anything suspicious. How Having a Solid Website Helps You With a reliable, WordPress‑based site managed by The Affordable Web Guy, you’re ready—should those sorts of legal‑looking notices [...]

By Mike Ferguson|Internet Marketing|

When Databases Attack! Netflix Personalization Vs. Simple Common Sense

Published on: May 20, 2009 It's clear that my Netflix account is taking WAY too many liberties with what I see or don't see featured under their "New Releases" heading. In other words, I'm missing new releases unless I take the time to seek them out. After a few visits that left me scratching my head about obvious omissions and then finally taking two minutes to actually compare my percpetions and reality side by side, my greatest couch potato fears were realized. It was in fact true--of the top 10 rentals (for that week, via IMDB), only one appeared on my NetFlix New Releases home page. The NetFlix feature that allows me to flag movies I've seen and liked/disliked and thus make targeted recommendations is the obvious suspect. Data driven content that's tailored to the users needs and preferences is a great tool--when it works. But in this case, it's seems to be trying too hard and in turn trimming [...]

By Mike Ferguson|Technical|

Javascript Disabled: Is That Really A Common Problem?

Post Date: Apr 5, 2009 Creating websites that perform and present content correctly and uniformly across various browsers and operating systems is one the primary responsibilities of any self-respecting web designer. And to any web-dude or dudette that doesn't make that end-game a primary focus of their process I say, shame on you. There, consider yourself rebuked. I can only assume that now you now feel the bitter cloud of humiliation hovering over your “IE only” code. You see, it is my obsession to seek out (and hopefully become literate with) the latest and greatest tricks, tools and clever code collections of script snippets that can transform a website from functional to fancy. In some cases its practical but more often than not its bells, whistles, and eye-candy. Along those lines, I've recently discovered the joys and relative ease of JQuery scripts. I feel no shame in admitting that I'm not skilled enough to create a script myself. But [...]

By Mike Ferguson|Technical|

2000domain(.net)-When Registrars Go Bad

If you've ever registered a domain, there is a high probability that you're dealing with folks in a far off, perhaps even exotic location. Australia, India or perhaps even as far off as Philadelphia. Allow me this short history: I don't know if this makes me "old school' (I'm not "OG"...you know, "Original Geek"), but while I didn't begin my internet experiences on a hacked Commodore 64, I do recall the painstaking days of domain registration and management that involved returning delicately prepared text-based emails. It was a nerve-wracking process where a misaligned "X" could result in an error of some sort. And worse, the edits that can now be seen in minutes, really DID take 24-48 hours to propagate. Beyond that, domains were a whopping $100, and then finally down to $50 a pop. Only after some sort of "ICANN deregulation" was put in place were there options beyond what is now Network Solutions. For some time--that was [...]

By Mike Ferguson|customer communication, Technical|

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